Notes / Commercial Description:
This One Goes to 11 Ale opens with bright, juicy aromas such as tropical fruits & ripe cherries, largely derived from massive kettle & dry-hop additions of Southern Hemisphere hop varieties such as Galaxy, Motueka, and Summer. The citrus & resinous pine notes of the Pacific Northwest hop family are also well represented, making their presence known through Simcoe, Citra, and the newly released Mosaic varietal, just to name a few. A wide range of specialty malts anchor the hops to this Imperial Red Ale, contrasting the assertive bitterness & juicy aromatics with a robust, toasty depth of flavor. Fermented with Bell’s signature house ale yeast, This One Goes to 11 Ale finishes with a lingering warmth.

More User Reviews:

Pours a deep amber color with lots of red tones mixed in. Creamy, off-white head that leaves just a little bit of lacing along the glass. Smells are heavy on the citrus, mainly orange and pineapple. Right next to the citrus is a huge dose of hops. Very pine-filled and weedy, what you'd expect in any imperial red. The taste hits big with the pine tree, hop bitterness up front and through the middle, getting stronger as the beer gets warmer. It's balanced so well with the sweetness from the citrus flavors - the most noticeable being orange, but pineapple, grape, and melons are also relevant. The taste it truly fantastic - the perfect balance of bitterness and sweetness and incredibly easy to drink for being 11% ABV. Mouth is medium with a nice amount of carbonation.

Awesome beer, here. A great imperial red with a nearly perfect balance of fruity sweetness and hoppy bitterness. It's kind of sad knowing this beer most likely won't be produced again!

Overall: Falling somewhere between a Barleywine and an Imperial Red Ale, this is a delicious, full flavored treat. This was a nice surprise, as I did know about this beer until it appeared at my local store.

A-Lots of lively carbonation leads to a tan small bubbled thin head that fades while lacing the glass. Amber in color and perfectly clear.

S-Rich aromas of lots of caramel and lighter toasted malts with ample whiffs of juicy hops, remniscent of pineapple with a little cherry in for good measure. Smells absolutely delicious.

T-Nice characteristics of a hopped up red. I'm not too crazy about the combination of a hopped up high alcohol red ale. A lot going on here and the components (toasted malt with hints of toffee and just a bit grainy, lots of different flavored hop with upfront juicy notes and a fair amount of piney bitterness) seem to fight a bit and the vapory alcohol definitely takes away from the enjoyment, but I guess this one should be sipped anyway.

M-It's definitely a little hot, can tell this is a high ABV beer. Mouthfeel is fairly weak for such a big beer. Just a bit cloying. Carbonation is on the high side, but I think that is necessary for this one-would be more syrupy without having the carbonated zing. Plenty of malt providing a fairly long slightly bitter finish.

O-I think the aroma is the best part of this beer. It has a really nice base and think this would be a winner if just a red ale minus the imperial. An interesting hybrid beer that might be better off being a one and done. Still a fun one to try! And you can feel its effects after only 12 oz.

This big beer's perfumey bouquet includes traces of light prune or plum, some cherry, alcohol and vanilla.
It pours beautiful ruby amber under a 1/2" off-white foam cap.
The beer starts sweet then malt flavors become more defined followed by rich hop flavors provide balance. Pitted fruits, alcohol, and a suggestion of bourbon and vanilla round out the palate. In the finish, malty, alcoholic, hoppy flavors slowly fade.
Big and chewy, with medium low carbonation and a pleasant warming.

Appearance: Pours a deep amber with some orange and ruby red. Moderate bubbles and a solid three fingers of off white head which slowly fade into a thin patchy layer. Leaves a lot of lacing around the glass.

Taste: Just as big and full as it smells. Sharp bitterness from the hops upfront with a taste of grapefruit, orange, pineapple, lemon, and a little mango. Floral and earthy hops along with a spicy kick of pine resin. Not to be lost in the mix is a solid taste of toasted malts with notes of caramel, toffee, biscuit, and cracker. Their is also a little burnt sugar like sweetness. Alcohol heat is definitely noticeable in the taste but it isn't overwhelming. Very good taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Creamy, juicy, and somewhat sticky. Somewhat hot but its manageable.

Overall: A really good brew here. Big and in your face with the hops and sweet malt but manages some balance and cleanness. A very good slow sipper.

A little bit of orange, red and auburn make up the color profile for this beer. Small offwhite head. 1/2" in depth I'd say.

Aroma was way hoppier than expected, waves of tropical citrus, caramel, orange, rind, grapefruit, and toastiness. A little bit of bitter alcohol wafting up to the nose as well.

Taste, delivered plenty of that citrus and caramel experience. Came on just as much like a double ipa as a barleywine, its all a matter of degrees I guess, and freshness. Plenty of caramel malt notes throughout it though. Sweet, toffee bitterness to it. Brown sugar and oranges.

Wicked funny name by the way, I got all drunk running around saying in a weak English accent "You see, this one here, this one goes to 11." Bummer we had to drink this one at Layne & Courtney's because El Dorado bar manager David Hurley decided to go back on a pre-approved bottle share situation, and lie to our face, because it was hurting his BMC sales receipts I guess. Don't support the El Dorado, they don't support beer, or honor their own word. We'll take our $$ elsewhere. Drink this beer instead. Respect beer.

I love the Spinal Tap reference this beer is deep ruddy mahogany tinted amber with a big tan head forming thick, fine speckled lacing is left behind as the head dwindles. Aroma luscious hops big malt backbone stands tall it's intense in all kind of ways, stored at cellar temp since it's release don't ask me why someone didn't drink this fresh but it's at my fingertips I can't complain. A beautiful expression of hops and malts it's big bad hoppy and fruity all in one note. Flavor is compromised of big hops, citrus, earthiness, and fruity notes collide with a big amber malt body going strong. A perfect cigar beer if there every was one, smoking a Man O War Ruination torpedo with this one as we speak...the hops collide perfectly with the smoke spicy Nicaraguan tobacco from the hands of AJ Fernandez. Big ripened fruit in the malts they called this an Imperial Red I will go on to say that is has barleywine characteristics this would be the one that shines as their standard barleywine release and it should be. Mouthfeel is oily and viscous in the best possible way really full bodied beer at it's best, hops from everywhere big enough malts to produce an 11 percent alcohol by volume beer, it's really great. Overall I want more this can't be the last of this beer, I better see it as an annual release perfect house yeast fermentation produces explicitly great beer in this case it's a strong ale/barleywine that Bell's has been lacking from their regular or rotational lineup.